Issue link: http://read.canadatravelguides.ca/i/651528
TRAVEL GUIDE TO CANADA SPECIAL EVENTS JANUARY Ÿ FEBRUARY • igloofest, Montréal • Montréal's Snow festival FEBRUARY • Grand Prix Ski-Doo, Valcourt • Montréal en Lumière • Québec international Pee-Wee Hockey tournament, Québec City • Québec Winter Carnival, Québec City • Snow Pentathlon, Québec City • Snowboard Jamboree, fiS Snowboard World Cup, Québec City APRIL • Saguenay Jazz & Blues festival JUNE • Canadian formula 1 Grand Prix, Montréal JULY • festival de Lanaudière, Joliette • international fireworks festival, Montréal • Just for Laughs festival, Montréal • Montréal Cirque festival • Montréal Highland Games and festival • Montréal international Jazz festival • osheaga Music and arts festival, Montréal • Québec City Summer festival JULY Ÿ SEPTEMBER • international Garden festival, Gaspésie AUGUST • new france festival, Québec City OCTOBER • Québec intercultural Storytelling festival, Montréal • the festival of fright, Montréal www.quebecoriginal.com/en/agenda of The Wine Route (La Route des vins) that winds through the pretty Eastern Townships. EXPLORING THE POWER OF PLACE One of the province's unique features is a very European sensibility when it comes to the intersection of art, culture and history. Across the province—but especially in the large metropolitan centres of Montréal and Québec City—there is a wealth of museums, galleries and special exhibits. The smaller, rural areas showcase what is unique in artistic hubs like Sherbrooke and Baie-Saint-Paul. In both city and country- side, heritage settings often provide the backdrop for the richness of the arts. WHAT'S NEW? In 2015, Huttopia Nature Getaways opened its first Québec resort in the Eastern Townships. The company is known for a range of unique, outdoor and nature- themed adventure experiences to reconnect with nature, paired with accommodation and services for a variety of comfort levels—from rugged tenting to lodgings in cosy cabins ( canada. huttopia.com/en). In the heart of Old Québec City, the new Le Monastère des Augustines is a sanctuary where guests experience holistic packages designed to promote health, rest, renewal and self- discovery. The unique setting immerses guests in the rich heritage of the Augustinian Sisters ( www.monastere.ca/en). Once an exclusive neo-Renaissance social club, founded in 1926 in Montréal's Gold Square Mile, a little bit of history is being transformed into the Hôtel Mount Stephen, a spectacular boutique hotel distinguished by a unique façade ( www.hotelmount stephen.com). CITY LIGHTS Montréal takes full advantage of being at a cultural crossroads, from its Anglo and francophone heritage to a more recent infusion of people from afar. A hotbed of innovation, the city abounds with theatre and dance, music and circus arts, and museums and art galleries showcasing everything from cutting-edge works to timeless classics. The city's underground system of pedestrian corridors, RESO, connects metro stations and corridors filled with boutiques and small shops. Montréal is renowned for its lively summer gatherings—from jamming sessions to dance fests. In cool contrast, take in a concert at Old Montréal's Notre-Dame Basilica, a neo-Gothic masterpiece with marvellous acoustics ( www.basiliquend dm.org/en ). Or visit the quays of the Old Port on foot or by Segway, where perfor- mances range from reggae to harbour symphonies created with ships' horns. Year-round, chic prevails in Old Montréal's clubs, trendy bistros and the free-spirited Latin Quarter's cocktail bars. In fact, the entire city teems with bars, discos, microbreweries, cigar lounges, cafés and outdoor terraces. On a smaller scale, Québec City has all kinds of music clubs, funky bars and boîtes à chansons (intimate venues for Québec's singer- songwriters). Night owls should head for rue Saint-Jean, Grande Allée and Avenue Cartier, or venture down to one of many nightspots in Nouvo Saint-Roch, an old industrial neighbourhood with a new and trendy look. THE GREAT OUTDOORS Outdoor enthusiasts can soak up Québec's untamed wilderness by visiting the prov- ince's numerous parks. With thousands of crystal-clear lakes and an impressive range of wildlife, they are idyllic for camping, canoeing, fishing, cycling, mountain biking and hiking. In winter, the guarantee of snow creates a paradise for downhill and cross- country skiing, dogsledding and snowshoe- ing ( www.sepaq.com). Every August the sky becomes a canvas for the shooting stars of the Perseid meteor showers, and in Tremblant they mark the occasion with a family-friendly event, Tremblant Beneath the Stars (www. tremblant.ca ). Spectacular sightlines are the norm at about 300 Québec public golf courses. One of the most challenging is Le Géant at Mont Tremblant, a master's 18-hole champion- ship course carved out of the Laurentian landscape. In those same Laurentian Mountains north of Montréal, Le P'tit Train du Nord Linear Park is a former railroad track converted into a 230-km (143-mi.) level biking trail—and a cross-country ski trail in winter—between Saint-Jérôme and Mont-Laurier ( www.laurentides.com/en ). It serves up one magnificent panorama after another. Whale watching from Tadoussac, Baie-Sainte-Catherine and Rivière-du- Loup, gets visitors close to nature with sightings of minke, humpback and even the rare blue whale, as do boat cruises from the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula to the seabird sanctuary at Bonaventure Island ( www. quebecmaritime.ca ). QUICK FACT CHARLEVOIX IS A RARE SPOT WHERE YOU CAN DO SOME WHALE WATCHING WITH BOTH FEET PLANTED FIRMLY ON THE SHORELINE. QUÉBEC